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Tuesday, 7 February 2017

France and Prussia clash off Cuba: The Battle of Havana 1870

Single-ship actions, in which a lone ship from one navy is
matched against a lone ship of the enemy’s, represent some of the most dramatic
battles in naval history. The captains and crews cannot depend on support or
rescue through the intervention of a larger force and the battle represents the
moment in which training, skill and discipline all come together to determine
victory or defeat. In other articles on this blog I’ve described some of the most dramatic of such
actions – Quebec vs Surveillante (1779), Indefatigable vs. Droits de l’Homme (1797) and Shah
vs. Huascar (1877) – and the Naval
War of 1812 consisted largely of similar encounters. Each of these actions took
place in the context of larger tactical or strategic objectives.

German pride; The Battle of Havana, November 9th 1870A card issued by a margarine manufacturer - SMS Meteor on left

A more obscure action, fought off the coast of Cuba in 1870,
was one which was radically different in that it could have had no bearing,
however remote, on the outcome of a greater conflict. It was indeed triggered
by almost medieval concepts of pride and honour.

In 1870 the French Second Empire under Napoleon III entered
unwisely into war with Prussia, the pre-eminent power in Germany. Within weeks
of the start of hostilities French land forces had been defeated in battle after
battle. Napoleon III himself had been surrounded and forced to surrender with an
entire army and Prussian forces, supported by other German allies, had invaded
Northern France and had brought Paris itself under siege. France had a large
navy, Prussia a few ships only, and those small, but the French found themselves
incapable of using their powerful modern ironclads to gain any strategic
advantage.

By November 1870, as winter came, siege conditions inside Paris
were beginning to bite. Food was running short (even elephants in the zoo were
eventually eaten), political upheaval had resulted in proclamation of a republic,
but without agreement by various hostiles factions as to what this meant, attempts
at breakout by the defenders and of relief by other French forces were unsuccessful
and communication with the outside world was by balloon only. Elsewhere in
France efforts were being made to regroup whatever forces had so far escaped
defeat – futile efforts which in turn were to lead to yet further defeats.

While Metropolitan France was enduring this agony a wooden-hulled
French sloop of the three-ship Guichen
class, the Bouvet, was serving in the
more idyllic surroundings of the French West Indies. Launched five years
earlier, of 750 tons and 182 feet long, she carried auxiliary sails to
complement the 575 hp steam engine that gave her, at best, 10.7 knots. Like
many similar vessels in other navies she was intended for “colonial service”
only, with shore bombardment of unsophisticated enemies her most likely hostile
duty. This said, she was heavily armed for her size – one 6.4” and four 4.7”
guns.

SMS Meteor

Also in the area was the Prussian gunboat Meteor of the eight-ship Chamaeleon class. She too waswooden hulled, of 415 tons and 142 feet
long. She carried sail as well as steam – a 320 hp engine which urged her to
just over 9 knots maximum. She was more weakly armed than the French Bouvet, carrying only one 24 pounder and
two 12 pounders.

On November 7th
the Meteor steamed into Havana, then the
capital of what was still the Spanish-ruled colony of Cuba. The Bouvet arrived from Martinique a few
hours later. Both ships moored and it is easy to imagine the suspicion with
which their crews viewed each other. They were however in a neutral port and no
offensive action could be undertaken. Also in the harbour was a French mail
steamer, the Nouveau Monde.

On the following
day the Nouveau Monde left Havana, en
route for Veracruz. Fearing however that the Prussian Meteor might emerge, overtake and capture her, the mail steamer’s
captain appeared to lose his nerve and he returned to Havana. The Meteor’s potential as a commerce raider
had been recognised – but to realise it she had to get away from Havana, and that
meant neutralising the Bouvet.

Events now
took a turn that seemed to belong more to the days of chivalry than to those of
total war in which Prussia and France were already locked. The Meteor's captain issued a formal
challenge to the captain of the Bouvet
to fight a battle – not indeed a wise move since the Meteor was heavily outgunned and as both ships were evenly matched
as regards speed, making flight unlikely if defeat threatened. The Bouvet duly accepted the challenge and she
left Havana to wait for the Meteor. Neutrality
laws did however demand that the Prussianwarship had to wait another day before she could leave harbour since Spain
was not a party to the conflict.

The Bouvet (right) pounds the Meteor

Meteor- 1911 image

The Meteor duly steamed out from Havana on
November 9th and towards the Bouvet,
which was waiting 10 miles offshore, just outside the Spanish/Cuban territorial
waters. The French opened fire immediately and the German vessel returned it.
The action, at very close range, lasted upwards of an hour and the Meteor, not surprisingly, got the worst
of it, losing both main and mizzen masts.

The Bouvet now moved in to finish the job by boarding but at the critical
moment a steam pipe was damaged, leaving her dead in the water. Had the Meteor been more heavily armed this might
have been her opportunity to destroy the Bouvet.
The French did however succeed in getting their ship into neutral Spanish territorial
waters under sail and the struggle could no longer be continued. (This is
perhaps the only instance of sail power proving of utility under battle
conditions to a steam-powered warship).

SMS Meteor - dismasted and damaged, but still full of fight

Though both
ships survived the encounter, the Bouvet
was to come to an equally dramatic end some ten months later when she was
wrecked near Haiti. Inconclusive as it was, and without any potential to
influence the outcome of the main conflict, this was the only naval encounter
of the Franco-Prussian War. It was however of great symbolic significance to the
Prussians – who within three months, and with the support of their other German
allies, were to proclaim the establishment of the new German Empire – the Second
Reich. Humiliatingly for the French, the proclamation was to take place in
Louis XIV’s huge palace of Versailles.

A fledgling
navy had stood up to a larger and longer established one and it had held its
own. The courage of the Meteor’s crew
had served notice to the world that however small its naval power might still be,
Germany had the determination and skills to make her a force to be reckoned
with at sea in the future. And the rest is history…

Britannia's Reach

It's November 1879 and on a broad river deep in the heart of South America, a flotilla of paddle steamers thrashes slowly upstream. It is laden with troops, horses and artillery, and intent on conquest and revenge. Ahead lies a commercial empire that was wrested from a British consortium in a bloody revolution. Now the investors are determined to recoup their losses and are funding a vicious war to do so. A British naval officer, Nicholas Dawlish, is playing a leading role in the expedition. But as brutal land and river battles mark its progress upriver, and as both sides inflict and endure ever greater suffering, stalemate threatens. And Dawlish finds himself forced to make a terrible ethical choice if he is to return to Britain with some shreds of integrity remaining…Click here or on cover image to read the opening chapters

Download a free copy of Britannia’s Eventide

To thank subscribers to the Dawlish Chronicles mailing list, a free, downloadable, copy of a new short story, Britannia's Eventide has been sent to them as an e-mail attachment.

5 comments:

Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.

About Me

My "Dawlish Chronicles" are set in the late 19th Century and reflect my deep interest in the politics, attitudes and technology of the period. The fifth novel in the series, “Britannia’s Amazon” is now available in both paperback and Kindle formats. It follows the four earlier Dawlish Chronicles, "Britannia's Wolf", "Britannia's Reach”, "Britannia's Shark" and "Britannia's Spartan". Click on the book covers below to learn more or to purchase.
I’ve had an adventurous career in the international energy industry and am proud of having worked in every continent except Antarctica. History is a driving passion in my life and I have travelled widely to visit sites of historical significance, many insights gained in this way being reflected in my writing. I welcome contact on Facebook and via this Blog. My website is www.dawlishchronicles.com and its “Conflict” section has a large number of articles on topics from the mid-18th Century to the early 20th Century.